Free agent starting pitcher Roy Oswalt has told major-league teams that he's aiming to join a club at some point during the season.

"After much thought and careful consideration, Roy has decided to continue to evaluate his options," said Oswalt's agent, Bob Garber in a statement. "He is great health and will continue to stay in shape, while throwing regularly off the mound. Roy has every intention of pitching for a contending club at some point this season.''

You might recall Roger Clemens did the midseason thing twice last decade. In May of 2006, he signed with the Astros and went 7-6 with a 2.30 ERA that season. In May of 2007, Clemens signed with the Yankees, going 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA. He made a postseason start, too, but was chased after just 2 1/3 innings.

Oswalt, 34, wasn't lacking for attention this offseason, as he turned down a one-year, $10 million from the Tigers and also declined to discuss terms with the Red Sox. Oswalt is said to want to be as close as possible to his home in Mississippi, specifically targeting the Cardinals and Rangers -- neither of whom were interested or met Oswalt's asking price. As CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler noted on Twitter, Garber didn't specify which "contending club" Oswalt wished to join, and it's believed he still only wants to pitch for the Rangers or Cardinals. So he's basically waiting on an injury or underperformance to open up a rotation spot on either team.

He was once one of the more durable pitchers in baseball. From 2002-2010, he only failed to make 30 starts one season while throwing at least 208 innings in seven of those nine campaigns. Last season, however, Oswalt was hampered by a back injury and made just 23 starts. He was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA, 1.34 WHIP and 93 strikeouts in 139 innings. In his one postseason start, he took the loss, allowing six hits and five runs in six innings against the Cardinals.

Oswalt is 159-93 with a 3.21 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 1,759 strikeouts in his career. He's a three-time All-Star and finished in the top six of Cy Young voting six times, but never better than third. He's pitched in the playoffs four different seasons, two with the Astros and two with the Phillies, once making the World Series (2005 Astros) but never winning it.

Yu Darvish is scheduled to meet with the media on Thursday at Rangers camp, but until then, he's off limits. The Rangers even took the unusual step of keeping the media from watching Darvish's initial workout with the team.

According to Martinez, Darvish threw 30 pitches at about 70-80 percent, with the last few pitches coming in somewhere in the lower 90s. Martinez said Darvish actually apologized to him when he missed his spots.

"I was talling him, 'It's OK. You're just warming up. It's your first bullpen,'" Martinez told reporters, including Wilson. "He threw sliders, curveballs, changeups, splits. He threw 30, and within those 30, there were about 10 different pitches.

One of the most surprising things about the recent relapse by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton was that he involved a teammate, Ian Kinsler, in his night of drinking.

On Sunday, Kinsler spoke publicly for the first time since Hamilton's Jan. 30 night out. He said he didn't see Hamilton drinking that night.

"Josh is taking care of it," Kinsler said, according to Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "He's open and up-front about it, it's not really my place to talk about it. I know I was there for part of the night. I've kind of gotten over it. I'm focused on the season. I support Josh. I'm completely supportive of him. I think all of his teammates are and all the coaches are. We're going to be here for him and whatever he needs."

Kinsler said he's heard the rumors that he was drinking with Hamilton, but said he's not concerned about it.

"I was there. I know what happened," he said. "People can say what they think was happening or what they want to say about the situation. There were, seriously, eight people in that bar. I don't know how many people were focused on us. We weren't out in the middle of the bar."

Oswalt had reportedly favored signing with the Rangers, but after shelling out big bucks for Yu Darvish, the Rangers didn't have enough left in their budget for what has been rumored to be his $10-million demand.

However, since Oswalt hasn't found a team that was on his wish list with enough money to meet his demands, he may have lessened those. Uehara is scheduled to make $4 million this season and has reportedly used his limited no-trade clause to nix two trades this offseason.

Wilson writes the Rangers may be looking for a utility infielder in return for Uehara, with the A's preferring to deal Adam Rosales rather than Eric Sogard.

Oswalt, 34, met with the Rangers last month and it is believed he told them he only wanted to start, not come out of the bullpen. He was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA for the Phillies last season in 23 starts. He was twice put on the disabled list because of lower back problems.

The Rangers have said they wanted to move move Neftali Feliz in the rotation, but he -- or another starter -- could find themselves back in the bullpen if Oswalt signs. The team signed Joe Nathan this winter and he will close if Feliz starts.

Oswalt had reportedly favored signing with the Rangers, but after shelling out big bucks for Yu Darvish, the Rangers didn't have enough left in their budget for what has been rumored to be his $10-million demand.

However, since Oswalt hasn't found a team that was on his wish list with enough money to meet his demands, he may have lessened those. Uehara is scheduled to make $4 million this season and has reportedly used his limited no-trade clause to nix two trades this offseason.

Wilson writes the Rangers may be looking for a utility infielder in return for Uehara, with the A's preferring to deal Adam Rosales rather than Eric Sogard.

Oswalt, 34, met with the Rangers last month and it is believed he told them he only wanted to start, not come out of the bullpen. He was 9-10 with a 3.69 ERA for the Phillies last season in 23 starts. He was twice put on the disabled list because of lower back problems.

The Rangers have said they wanted to move move Neftali Feliz in the rotation, but he -- or another starter -- could find themselves back in the bullpen if Oswalt signs. The team signed Joe Nathan this winter and he will close if Feliz starts.

The Oakland A's are close to acquiring Rangers relief pitcher Koji Uehara from the Rangers, CBSSports.com Danny Knobler has confirmed. The news was first reported by Bay Area News Group.

Earlier this offseason, Rangers reliever Koji Uehara nixed a trade to the Blue Jays by exercising his no-trade clause. We learned that there were six teams on his no-trade list and that the Jays were one of them. Still, this didn't mean the Rangers intended to keep Uehara.

Uehara, 36, was excellent for the first part of the 2011 season. He had a 1.72 ERA and 0.70 WHIP in 47 innings for the Orioles. For the Rangers, though, he had a 4.00 ERA and gave up five home runs in just 18 innings (he only allowed six homers for Baltimore). He was awful in the postseason, too, giving up five hits, five earned runs, three home runs and two walks while recording only four outs.

For the first time since his relapse, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton answered questions on Wednesday, speaking with his Pastor, Dr. James Robison, on GBTV.com, the online home of right-wing political commentator Glenn Beck.

Hamilton said he was undergoing a "Josh Hamilton makeover," going to "one-on-one" counseling, as well as counseling sessions with his wife, Katie.

"I'm doing good. I'm well, my family's well. We're taking this as a serious issue," Hamilton said. "I had a slip-up in '09 and moving past that, it was, 'OK, I'm fine. It was one night, everything's over.' We didn't really move back towards what cause me to slip-up, why did I all of a sudden choose to do this? And it happened again.

"This time, it's not just, 'OK, it happened, we'll move past it and maybe it won't happen again.' We want to find out why it continues to happen. It's not on a regular basis, but whether it's things in my life, whether it's stress or home things, or whatever the case may be, those things might be a trigger."

Hamilton said his faith will be the focus of the makeover.

"It's going to be a process," Hamilton said. "I'm not fixed. I'm doing things right a day at a time. I can always use prayer from people."

He spoke about his relationship with his wife and daughters, and that he was concentrating on communicating with them better. He said that's improved since his relapse.

"It has been a special time," Hamilton said. "The communication the last one-and-a-half weeks has been more than there has been in the past eight years. I'm not saying I haven't been communicating but it has been more meaningful communication."

He didn't shy from taking responsibility or having to live in the public eye.

"Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me," Hamilton said. "You guys know my heart, and I think you sense that. Me, personally, I'm going to do everything I can do to break these walls down and become a better man, a role model, and someone your little ones can to and want to strive to be like one day -- a man who is not perfect, but admits to his mistakes and wants to get better."